This isn't to spark politics or social awareness. Ok, just a little, maybe?

For the last year or so, I've eaten less and less meat (not a conscious choice) because it began to give me the shits, I noticed certain *smells*, I was tired of chewing, and the idea of it rotting in my stomach is more grotesque than animal cruelty.

So, I'm thinking of taking the plunge, solely for the health benefits and overall good, lighter feeling. I'm sure others have done it solely for this purpose alone, right? But does it just naturally eventually lead toward the activist path?

I ask this because I've been contemplating becoming a vegetarian for almost 2 years. And it hasn't been until just recently that I've begun to ponder the bambis, the nemos, roger rabbits, darkwing ducks ,etc.

So, if anyone would also recommend any books, cooking or health, that I can refer to without the political stigma (for now), or offer pieces of wisdom, advice, own personal experiences, or just post pictures of ribeyes and porterhouses, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I really think I could become a vegetarian that eats only turkey bacon. And then, possibly no turkey bacon? Don't know if I can ever give that up.

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Originally posted by nchs09 "please take off your shoes, this is 100% donkey carpet. Only the finest of donkeys that haul coffee up a mountain were used to make this carpet"

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Originally posted by Jabberwocky So, I'm thinking of taking the plunge, solely for the health benefits and overall good, lighter feeling. I'm sure others have done it solely for this purpose alone, right? But does it just naturally eventually lead toward the activist path?

Being a vegetarian != being a vegeterianist

I've been a vegetarian for almost a decade, and I can't stand activists. If anything, it only gets me in trouble when I meet someone that has been intensively annoyed by those hypocrite bastards.

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lol you don't have to be an activist to be a vegetarian


interesting thought: in the first 8000 years of modern human (pre)history, most people were vegetarian, eating gathered things such as berries, roots, mushrooms, etc.

the cultivation and transformation of plants like wheat, hops, barley, etc into bread, etc was something that has happened really only in relatively recent time - bread and rice were at one time considered a sacred food of the elites, and only later became staples and symbols of the disadvantaged.

likewise, the consumption of animal flesh was something only done for important ritual feasts, involving the meaningful sacrifice of special animals.

nowadays you can just grab pieces of flesh shaped into convenient bites and freeze dried to pop in the microwave.. there's nothing special about it, and so it leads to the kind of disaffected profit-driven cruelty of the mass slaughterhouse, etc


anyways that's just something else to consider, that humans have survived far longer without eating meat.

for the record i am a pondering vegetarian as well.

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Originally posted by nefardec anyways that's just something else to consider, that humans have survived far longer without eating meat.

Weren't humans hunter-gatherers?

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Originally posted by Lira Being a vegetarian != being a vegeterianist I've been a vegetarian for almost a decade, and I can't stand activists. If anything, it only gets me in trouble when I meet someone that has been intensively annoyed by those hypocrite bastards.

Pheeew. I thought someone would jump me for being cruel That my initial purpose for wanting to become a vegetarian (for myself) was indulgent and insincere to all those "other factors." Naive, I know. It's just seems sometimes that it's black or white like that. Perhaps it's just the people I surround myself with.

What have been differences (health or other) you've noticed when you ate meat to when you decided against it?

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Originally posted by nchs09 "please take off your shoes, this is 100% donkey carpet. Only the finest of donkeys that haul coffee up a mountain were used to make this carpet"

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Originally posted by Lira Weren't humans hunter-gatherers?

yes, but for example mastodon-hunting wasn't something you'd want to do on a regular basis and this was done also for feasting and the bones were used to build homes, etc. gathering was the primary method of getting food by a large margin

i think some people forget how long humans existed with essentially the same physical characteristics, with tools only as simple as digging sticks and axeheads

as humans developed more tools they hunted more for sure, but meat was by and large not the principal part of the diet. A lot of this had to do with traditional animist beliefs that would have discouraged the consumption of just any animal.

also, the primary hunting technique for thousands of years was the scavenging of carcasses rather than the killing of live animals.

also, 'hunter-gatherer' is a tricky term because anthropologists now separate several chronological groups of hunter-gatherers with different social characteristics.

I've been thinking of becoming a vegetarian for a while now also. I don't like getting that "heavy" feeling I usually get after eating meat.

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Originally posted by Jabberwocky Pheeew. I thought someone would jump me for being cruel That my initial purpose for wanting to become a vegetarian (for myself) was indulgent and insincere to all those "other factors." Naive, I know. It's just seems sometimes that it's black or white like that. Perhaps it's just the people I surround myself with. What have been differences (health or other) you've noticed when you ate meat to when you decided against it?

I'm much much healthier now.

But then, I seem to be allergic to meat... it's a long and complicated story, but every time I eat meat (even when I don't know I'm eating meat), some nasty looking acne-like nodes appear in my skin.

Also, I just don't think of meat as "food" any more. When I smell it, it doesn't make me hungry or anything. Barbecue actually smells just like burned stuff now

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vegetables are for newbs

red meat is hard to break down but so tasty. I know i'm not the only one who's addicted to it, but i have to admit that i've had times in the last month or so when i just cook a huge vegetable medley for dinner. The whole thing is about balance. If you wanna eat meat every now & then, do so, but i dunno, i could never go fully veggie, even though I struggle with digestion, it's just too nice!

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Originally posted by nefardec nowadays you can just grab pieces of flesh shaped into convenient bites and freeze dried to pop in the microwave.. there's nothing special about it, and so it leads to the kind of disaffected profit-driven cruelty of the mass slaughterhouse, etc

I agree, and have thought about this too. And absolutely no offense intended, but this is the sort of mentality I don't want to adopt. I guess I have already have if I agreed, huh? I'm just confused.

I don't want to become one of those types that watches someone pop a frozen Swanson's chicken into the microwave and then curse their existence or feel the need to picket squat in the kitchen. Maybe that's why vegetarians always hang in groups? That's even more odd.

I want to do my thing, and be accepting of others who do theirs (including the profitized slaughterhouses), that's all.

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Originally posted by nchs09 "please take off your shoes, this is 100% donkey carpet. Only the finest of donkeys that haul coffee up a mountain were used to make this carpet"

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Originally posted by Lomeli I've been thinking of becoming a vegetarian for a while now also. I don't like getting that "heavy" feeling I usually get after eating meat.

Exactly. I don't know how else to describe it besides feeling "lighter," "bouncy," or "airy."

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Originally posted by nchs09 "please take off your shoes, this is 100% donkey carpet. Only the finest of donkeys that haul coffee up a mountain were used to make this carpet"